 |  No-one would have given him a chance if I'd let him go |
Bolton manager Sam Allardyce says Khalilou Fadiga's career would have been over if he had released him. The midfielder returned to first-team action in the FA Cup at Ipswich for the first time since having a defibrillator fitted to control his heartbeat.
Allardyce said: "It is a great thing to give someone an opportunity to continue to play professional football.
"The only thing Khali and his wife want is for him to play. No-one would have given him a chance if I'd let him go."
Allardyce has backed Fadiga to repay his faith in him and insists the club will not put the 30-year-old Senegalese international's safety at risk.
"He is training every day and we will monitor the defibrillator on a regular basis," he added.
"I felt I had to give him the chance and hopefully he will pay us back with performances like on Saturday.
"He has been great, otherwise there would have been no question of us ever even risking the chance of anything untoward happening to him.
"Mentally he has always been very strong because he has always wanted to carry on playing football."
MMIX
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